Clamping system for concrete wall forms



Sept. 17, 1963 D. CARLTON 3,103,730

CLAMPING SYSTEM FOR CONCRETE WALL FORMS Filed Nov. 1, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet l a INVENTOR.

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w u K4 4 ArmeA/EX P 17, 1963 D. CARLTON JQ373O CLAMPING SYSTEM FORCONCRETE WALL FORMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 1, 1961 INVENTOR. 1 C42LTaA/ wl al om ,4 rra/eMs/ United States Patent 3,103,730 CLAMllNGSYSTEM FQR CONQ TE WALL FORMS Daniel Carlton, Detroit, Mich, assignor toCFF, 1112., Sonthfield, Mich, a corporation of lidiehigan Filed Nov. 1,1961, Ser. No. 149,278 3 Claims. (l. 25-131) This invention relates toforms used in pouring concrete walls and more particularly to a systemand apparatus for locking adjacent form sections to one another so as tocreate continuous form sections.

Vertical concrete walls are normally constructed by arranging sets ofplanar wooden forms parallel to one another in a vertical position, andspaced from one another by a distance equal to the thickness of thedesired wall. Concrete is then poured between the forms and the formsare removed when the wall is fully set. The forms used are normally of astandard height and length and elongated Wall sections are made bylooking a series of forms adjacent to one another.

A common type of form utilizes plywood as the planar concrete contactingsurface. The edges of la plywood rectangle are reinforced by verticaland horizontal wooden beams, which are disposed on the outer surface ofthe form. Additional vertical beams may extend between the horizontaledge members at spaced distances along the length of the panel.Additional horizontal reinforcing members normally take the form of apair of angle irons which extend the length of the forms; each ironhaving one flange disposed in the horizontal plane, fitted in notches inthe vertically extending wooden beams, and facing the similarly disposedflange of its adjacent angle iron. {These angle irons are termed walers.It is the specific purpose of the present invention to provide a systemfor joining adjacent prefabricated wall forms by means of connectionwith their walers, so as to create elongated forms.

Means must also be provided for separating the two opposed form sectionsby an appropriate distance from one another and for locking them in thisrelationship so as to resist the horizontal pressure exerted by theconcrete. Such horizontal locking is normally achieved by a series ofbars which extend between the two forms and are fixed to each of them.While these bars extend through the concrete Wall and leave holes in thewall when they are removed, they are so widely spaced as to avoidstructurally weakening the wall. The present invention provides meansfor locking those crossbars into the same unit which locks adjacentpanels to one another. In this manner a single locking device may beused to lock adjacent panels to one another so as to form an elongatedsection and also lock opposed panels at a fixed spacing from oneanother. Since the horizontal spacing bar connect to a joinder pointbetween adjacent panels, they provide support to both panels anddistribute this support through the horizontally extending walers. Thisallows fewer horizontal rods to be employed and thereby results in astronger and more continuous wall section.

The lock used to join the walers of adjacent panels and to receive thehorizontal rod connection from the opposed wall panels is so simplydesigned as to be highly economical and reliable in its operation.

.A preferred embodiment of the present invention which will subsequentlybe described 'in detail is utilized with walers having horizontallyextending slots in their horizontal webs a short distance from each end.The lock takes the form of a channel section which has a pair of rightangle tabs, each having one surface attached to a flange of the channelwith its other face extending parallel to and spaced from the centralweb of the chan- Patented Sept. 17, 1963 nel. These angular tabs fit ina pair of slots in walers of adjacent wall panels. A wedge may be drivenbetween the slot and the interior side of one of the tabs so as to drawthe forms together until their plywood sections and edge verticalreinforcing wooden beams pressingly engage one another. The horizontallyextending rods employed with the present invention have slots formedadjacent to each of their ends. These rods extend between the forms andpass through notches cut in the adjacent edges of a pair of forms andtheir vertically extending wooden edge member. A pair of slots in theflanges of the locking member allow a wedge to be passed from theoutside of the locking member through the slot in the horizontal rod.This fixes the rod with respect to the locking member and alsodistributes the rigidity of the rod to the adjacent walers.

It is therefore seen to be an object of the present invention to providea lock for adjacent concrete forms in the shape of a channel sectionhaving tabs which extend into slots near the edges of walers of adjacentforms and may be wedged so as to draw the forms together.

Another object is to provide a lock of the above type which providesmeans for engaging horizontal rods extending between pairs of wallpanels.

Other objects, advantages, and applications of the present inventionwill be made apparent by the following detailed description of apreferred embodiment of the invention. The description makes referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a section of a set of forms joined by thepresent locking means;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a section of the forms shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the forms of FIG.l;

FIGURE 4 is a front perspective view of a set of forms joined by thepresent locking means; and

FIGURE 5 is a rear perspective view of a portion of the forms andlocking means shown in FIGURE 4.

As shown in the drawings, the forms are constructed about sheets ofplywood or other light-weight board material it These sheets 10 aregenerally rectangular in form and are supported on the rear surface oftheir upper edges by wooden 2 x 4s 12. Similar horizontal members extendalong the bottom edge of each of the panels but are not shown. Thevertical edges of the panels are similarly supported by 2 x 4s 14 whichmeet the top members :12 at their ends. Other vertically extendingreinforcing members similar to the end pieces 14 may extend along theboard at regular intervals, but none are illustrated in the drawings.

Midway along the height of the form sections, a pair of right angle ironmembers generally indicated at 16 and 18 extend horizontally across eachform member. The upper angle member, or waler, 16 has one of its flanges29 extending horizontally within grooves in the vertical Wooden beams 14while its other flange 22 extends upwardly along the outer edge of theform. Similarly the lower wales 18 have their horizontal flanges 24extending in grooves in the vertical members 14 and have their verticalflanges 26 extending downwardly along the outer edges of the forms.

In the section of wall illustrated in the drawings, two form sectionsgenerally indicated at 30 and 32 are joined together to form one side ofthe form while another pair of forms 34 and 36 are joined together inparallel opposing relationship to the sections 30 and 32.

The lock is formed of a length of channel section having an upper flange40, a lower flange 42, and a central web 44. The upper and lower flanges40 and 42 have chamfered edges as at 46 so that they taper and meet theweb surface 44. A pair of right angle tabs 48 each have one of theiredges welded to the upper flange 40 adjacent to its line of connectionwith the central web 44 and proximate to the opposite edgesof the lock.The tabs 48 are welded in such a manner that their angular extensionsproject parallel to and spaced from the web 44. These flanges extendslightly more than half way across the height of the web 44.

The upper walers 16 have their horizontal flanges 20 formed with slots50 which extend parallel to the vertical flanges 22 and spaced slightlyaway from them. The spacing of the slots 50 from the edges of the waleris such that the freely projecting portions of the tabs 43 may beextended into a pair of slots 50 in the walers of adjacent formsections. The tabs 48 are inserted in the slots 50 in such a manner asto bring the vertical flange 22 of the waler 16 into contact with theouter sur face of the web 44 of the lock.

The slots 50 are of suflicient length that a wedge 43 may be driven intoone of the slots 50 between the tab 48 and the edge of the slots closestto the end of the waler. This causes the two forms to be drawn togetherso that the edges of their facing surfaces and their vertical edgemembers 14 abut on another and bear against each other.

The sets of forms 30 and 32 and 34 and 36 are maintained at a properspacing from one another and supported against horizontally imposedforces by rods 54. One rod is associated with each set of locks 40 andalthough only one rod and set of locks is shown at least two must beemployed in each vertical wall surface. The rod associated with a set oflocks employed to join two forms in a corner section of the wall mayalso serve as the second support for a planar section. While such cornerlocks are not shown in this application, they are formed in accordancewith the same principles as the central locks which are disclosed.

The rods 54 have a slight taper from one end to the other so that theymay be withdrawn from the concrete wall after it is poured. Adjacent toeach end, they have slots 62 which are each disposed in the same place.The

rod passes through central holes in the webs 44- of the lock members andthrough mating notches formed in the wall sections 10 and the edgecolumns 14 of the forms.

The rods 54 are fixed with respect to the lock by tapered wedges 56which pass through slots 58 and 60 formed in the upper and lower flanges4G and 42 of the locks, respectively. The wedge are designed to pull therods 54 outwardly with respect to the locks.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. A concrete form and lockset, comprising: forms including coplanar, rectangular sheet surfaces,beams attached to one side and extending along each edge of thesurfaces, and metal walers attached to the same side of the surface asthe beams and extending across the surfaces parallel to and intermediatetwo opposed edges thereof,

said walers having at least one flange extending perpendicularly to thesurface and containing slots therein adjacent to each end of the waler,

said slots extending parallel to said surfaces; lock members, channelshaped in cross section and having a pair of right angle tabs attachedto opposite sides of one of its flange surfaces adjacent to the line ofconnection with the channel web, said tabs having free ends projectingparallel to and spaced from the web of the lock, perpendicular to thelength of the lock, whereby the tabs may be inserted in the slots of thewaler flanges of a pair of adjacent forms; and wedge means, operable insaid waler slots for forcing the pair of adjacent forms toward oneanother.

2. A concrete form and lock set, comprising: forms including coplanar,rectangular sheet surfaces, beams atached to one side and extendingalong each edge of the surfaces, and metal walers, right angle in crosssection, having one flange attached to the same side of the surface asthe beams and the other flange extending perpendicularly to the surface,and extending across the surface parallel to and intermediate twoopposed edges thereof,

slots formed in said perpendicular flange of the waler adjacent to theends thereof,

said slots extending parallel to said surfaces; lock members, channelshaped in cross section and having a pair of right angle, flat tabsattached to opposite sides of one of its flange surfaces adjacent to theline of connection with the channel web, said tabs having free endsprojecting parallel to and spaced from the web of the lock,perpendicular to the length of the lock, whereby the tabs may beinserted in the slots of the waler flanges of a pair of adjacent forms;and wedge means, operable in said waler slots for forcing the pair ofadjacent forms toward one another. 3. A concrete form and lock set,comprising: forms including opposing sets of coplanar, rectangular sheetsurfaces, beams attached to one side and extending along each edge ofthe surfaces, said sheets and a pair of beams on opposed sides beingnotched, and metal walers attached to the same side of the surface asthe beams and extending across the surfaces parallel to and intermediatetwo opposed edges thereof,

said walers having at least one fiange extending perpendicularly to thesurface and containing slots therein adjacent to both ends of the waler,

said slots extending parallel to said surfaces; lock members, channelshaped in cross section having central slots in both its flanges andweb, and a pair of right angle tabs attached to opposite sides of one ofits flange surfaces adjacent to the line of connection with the channelweb, said tabs having free ends projecting parallel to and spaced fromthe web of the lock, perpendicular to the length of the lock, wherebythe tabs may be inserted in the slots of the waler flanges of a pair ofadjacent forms; wedge means, operable in said waler slots for forcingthe pair of adjacent forms toward one another; a tapered rod, havingslots adjacent both its ends, and operative to be passed through thenotches in the sheets and beams and the slots in the webs of channelsections; and wedge members operative to pass through the slots in theflanges of a lock and a slot in an end of a rod, to fix the rod to thelock.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,833,509 Wolf Nov. 24, 1931 2,442,292 Hart May 25, 1948 2,526,529Arrighini et al Oct. 17, 1950 2,680,894 OSullivan June 15, 19542,894,312 Jones et a1. July 14, 1959 OTHER REFERENCES ConstructionMethods and Equipment magazine article, New Form Eliminates Wales,"pages 187 and 190, March (Copy in Div. 15.)

3. A CONCRETE FORM AND LOCK SET, COMPRISING: FORMS INCLUDING OPPOSINGSETS OF COPLANAR, RECTANGULAR SHEET SURFACES, BEAMS ATTACHED TO ONE SIDEAND EXTENDING ALONG EACH EDGE OF THE SURFACES, SAID SHEETS AND A PAIR OFBEAMS ON OPPOSED SIDES BEING NOTCHED, AND METAL WALERS ATTACHED TO THESAME SIDE OF THE SURFACE AS THE BEAMS AND EXTENDING ACROSS THE SURFACESPARALLEL TO AND INTERMEDIATE TWO OPPOSED EDGES THEREOF, SAID WALERSHAVING AT LEAST ONE FLANGE EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY TO THE SURFACE ANDCONTAINING SLOTS THEREIN ADJACENT TO BOTH ENDS OF THE WALER, SAID SLOTSEXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID SURFACES; LOCK MEMBERS, CHANNEL SHAPED INCROSS SECTION HAVING CENTRAL SLOTS IN BOTH ITS FLANGES AND WEB, AND APAIR OF RIGHT ANGLE TABS ATTACHED TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF ONE OF ITS FLANGESURFACES ADJACENT TO THE LINE OF CONNECTION WITH THE CHANNEL WEB, SAIDTABS HAVING FREE ENDS PROJECTING PARALLEL TO AND SPACED FROM THE WEB OFTHE LOCK, PERPENDICULAR TO THE LENGTH OF THE LOCK, WHEREBY THE TABS MAYBE INSERTED IN THE SLOTS OF THE WALER FLANGES OF A PAIR OF ADJACENTFORMS; WEDGE MEANS, OPERABLE IN SAID WALER SLOTS FOR FORCING THE PAIR OFADJACENT FORMS TOWARD ONE ANOTHER; A TAPERED ROD, HAVING SLOTS ADJACENTBOTH ITS ENDS, AND OPERATIVE TO BE PASSED THROUGH THE NOTCHES IN THESHEETS AND BEAMS AND THE SLOTS IN THE WEBS OF CHANNEL SECTION; AND WEDGEMEMBERS OPERATIVE TO PASS THROUGH THE SLOTS IN THE FLANGES OF A LOCK ANDA SLOT IN AN END OF A ROD, TO FIX THE ROD TO THE LOCK.